Description
- “William Bruce”
- Size: 72″ H x 33″ W x 33″ D
- Bronze: 355 lbs.
In April 2005 I was asked to present some ideas for a sculpture for the Bicentennial of Eaton, Ohio, founded by William Bruce in 1906. I did some research and completed sketches and contacted three Foundries for bids on the project. I presented the sketches and a proposal and received the authorization to proceed. The following day, after getting the ‘go ahead’, I made a visit to Mound Hill Cemetery and located the grave of William Bruce. I made a commitment to William that day, that I would try my very best to represent him and his founding spirit in the form of a bronze sculpture that would represent his vision for Eaton, Ohio.
It has been an interesting journey, from the early research about William Bruce to researching the correct period clothing for 1806, to finding the original Plat of Eaton as drawn by William Bruce himself, to seeing William Bruce’s linen shirt as preserved by the Preble County Historical Society.
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Remember, that in 1806 William Bruce was 44 years old, so in order to keep everything in perspective I searched for a model about the same age, who was game enough to dress in period clothing, and let me study the way the clothing draped and where the folds and gathers fell. I found a perfect model who consented to dress in period attire and allowed me to accurately sketch the details of the clothing. This model chose to remain anonymous, but I am deeply grateful for his willingness to help me out. The research for historical accuracy… the revisions of the original sketch,… and the enlargement to life-size,… took all of June and July of 2005.
Once I had the sculpture drawn to scale, it was time to request aid from Jay Favorite, who did all the welding of the armature for the sculpture. I worked from August through the end of the year on the clay sculpture, and during that time William Bruce and I became very good friends. My husband, Bill, did my share of the work around the farm, so that I could spend all my working time with William Bruce.
The clay sculpture was now ready for transport to Art Castings of Colorado where it would be cast into bronze. The clay that is used for sculpting is quite soft and anything that touches it will leave marks. So the tricky part to transporting it, is to make sure that nothing can touch or press against the soft clay. The first of January, our son, Randy Watts, engineered a wooden crate that allowed the sculpture to lay down for transport. He was able to suspend the sculpture inside the crate without touching anything. Once that was accomplished, our youngest son, Greg Watts, who is a Sergeant in the US Marines in Massachusetts, came home to Eaton, to help his Dad drive William Bruce to the Foundry in Loveland, CO,. So, as you can tell, this sculpture would not be here today, if I had not received a lot of help from family and friends.
I can’t say enough about this beautiful park designed by Tom Kline and all the work done by Kathy Willis and the City Maintenance Workers to bring everything together in time for the Bicentennial. We are most grateful to the Brooke-Gould Memorial Trust for providing all the funding for this bronze sculpture of William Bruce. I think the Brooke-Gould sisters would be pleased to see how we are celebrating our Bicentennial by remembering those early settlers that established Eaton, Ohio.We have an interesting and outstanding founder, who had the vision 200 years ago, to plat out a town with wide streets and large lots. The fact that William Bruce stands here, on his original Lot D of his Map, on ground he donated to the City of Eaton, is very significant. I think he would be proud to see that his spirit lives on 200 years after he founded this city.
